All I Want Is A Normal Life

I went to Club Nokia tonight to see Cracker (the New York Dolls and X were also playing, but I figured I didn’t need to stick around for that). Here are some videos from the show in the order I’m uploading them in:

I feel like I’m just seeing a best friend after months of not talking. There was SO much stuff I wanted to write about… everything from the cyber-bullying case (briefly: It’s awful that the girl killed herself after being bullied by the mother… that woman -the mother- is a sick individual who should be in a mental institution. It’s people like this who make our society bad in the ways it’s bad. But at the same time, there’s no *explicit* law that if someone harassed someone else into killing themselves, that the harasser is a murderer. I mean, I could call you every day and tell you that everyone hated you and you should die, but you are ultimately responsible for if you kill yourself as a result of that… and, for whatever is right or wrong here, that’s the way our society is put together -or should be-. I can’t sue McDonalds for seducing me with trashy food that ultimately will kill me) to Mary Poppins (briefly: watched it last night for the first time, and OH MY GOSH that’s the best movie ever. I want to watch it every day. STEP IN TIME! hahahaha… awesome) to Beyonce (briefly: I love her. I don’t care what you say. She’s great).

But this morning, I’m eating the most amazing meal I’ve cooked since going vegan: a soyrizo burrito with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, garlic, scallions, onions, and jalapenos, topped with some fresh avocado and wrapped in a fresh and delicious flour tortilla. YUM! I’m watching Survivorman, one of my favorite shows (Les Stroud is my television crush). At 1pm, Santacon (Lord knows where that website came from… Santacon’s always been kind of an underground event), which I’ve managed to talk David into coming on. After watching Mary Poppins last night, I realize that Dick Van Dyke’s character, Bert, would be an awesome boyfriend. But no one is like that, and the fact is, David and I get along really well. We laugh at the same stuff and we laugh pretty constantly. No, he’s not goofy or larger-than-life like Bert, and I had to do a little convincing to get him to come to Santacon, and he doesn’t really like camping or hiking, but I love being with him, I love talking with him, I love laughing with him… I love HIM. So much so that I don’t really care if he doesn’t want to do all those other things that used to be most important to me in a relationship — things I thought I’d never compromise on. So I’m sticking with David and trying to find the motivation to do all these other things (hiking, camping, karaoke, etc) without him. He’s not a vegan and doesn’t even eat organic/sustainable meats or vegetables/fruit. He’d never even had real peanut butter until he met me… it had always been that sugar and lard concoction that they market as nutritional paste. Bleh. And he loved the real peanut butter! I warned him that he’d probably not like it, since it just tastes like peanuts, but he likes peanuts and loved the peanut butter! And he at least plays along when I make vegan food.

It’s a beautiful day and I’ve got a lot of stuff to do today, so I have to get moving. I’ve set myself up for a vigorous training program to ensure I’m in shape for the Wilderness Travel Course. Even though the “Girlfriends” episode of “Flight of the Conchords” is on, I’ve got to peel myself off this couch.

Seriously.

Off the couch.

OH and props to WordPress on the new look. Um, now you just have to get mobile uploads, hey?

I mean no badness towards my mom or anything, but it’s pretty hard to wake up, converse with my mom, converse on my way to work, then talk with people all day, running from meeting to meeting where I have tons of deliverables and such, and then come home and entertain my mom. She’d say that I don’t have to entertain her, but really, it’s entertaining. Right now, she’s down in Long Beach visiting Sheena, which is kind of a relief, since I get to sit around at home and watch Kung Fu Panda and pretend like it’s a normal night where I have a calm night and go to bed at 9:00.

It turns out that I don’t require the social interaction 24 hours per day. I need quiet time to watch dumb movies and read books on mountaineering.

But these days I don’t get much of that time… so I guess I should appreciate the moments I get it.

A full report of the weekend through photos is coming next.

Also, it’s pouring rain, thank God.

So I did it. I signed up for the Wilderness Travel Course. Yes, I am aware that I was not planning on doing it until early next month, but the Long Beach class filled up and I’ll be gosh darned if I’m going to let the thing I’ve been looking forward to for a WHOLE YEAR pass me by because of something as dumb as me not planning on signing up until later.

Break out the streamers, I’m goin’ back to campin’ school!

My friend Miranda is a vegan and an animal rights activist. She and her fiance, Victor, asked people to give them the gift of going vegan for two weeks. Two weeks is both a huge deal and not a big deal at all… I mean, you can do anything for two weeks, right? But it kind of means reforming all my plans around being vegan. I can’t eat nachos, for example. When my friend invited me to soup on Sunday, I had to ask if they might have vegan soup. I hardly know what to look for in places to eat anymore. It’s a serious adjustment… Vegetarian is just like being a regular food eater, but without the meat. It’s pretty easy to make anything at all vegetarian (except, say, a steak dinner). But it’s not that easy to make things vegan. Every single thing I eat has to be pondered and inspected… could there be a hidden egg in that bread? Did they cook with butter? Is the broth vegetable or chicken? So, it’s turning out to be considerably more complicated than just asking the waiter to hold the _________.

But otherwise, I feel really good. I’m hungry today, but that’s because I couldn’t eat the lunch they provided for us on our tree planting thing, so I just ate a handful of pretzels for lunch. When I got back to the office, I was starving, so I wolfed down the quinoa that I brought for lunch (just in case there were no vegan options… thank goodness). When I got home, I was still hungry, so I had another bowl of quinoa, then I had a couple pieces of toast… and I’m still kinda hungry. Is hunger just kind of part of getting used to this?

I have been shopping vegan for the last couple weeks, eating through all my perishable animal products so I don’t violate the intent of the gift. I’ve been drinking soy milk for about two weeks and stopped eating cheese about four days ago. And yeah, I’ve absentmindedly poured milk in my coffee at breakfast when I went out with my dad last weekend. But I’ve been moving towards it for a couple weeks.

Tonight, after a lengthy back-and-forth with my friend Stuart, who wanted to get together for dumplings on Sunday, I kind of know what vegans go through when they try to make plans with friends. The text messages went a little something like this:

S: Hey, I’m getting some people together for soup and dumplings for Sunday, you in?
D: Yeah! Totally! sounds awesomes!
S: Great! I’ll send you an email
D: Ok, think there’s any vegan food?
S: oh. gee. no, probably not. Sorry.
D: Ok, I’ll eat ahead of time
S: Wait, r u a vegan?
D: Yes, gift for a friend. Long story.
S: Oh. Sorry. I’d really love for you to come. Is there a time limit on this vegan thing?
D: Kind of. But I still want to come Sunday
S: Maybe there’s garlic and vegetables, but I don’t think it’s vegan.
D: really, it’s ok.
S: ok. sorry.

And I realize that this is the conversation that I’ve had over and over with my vegan friends. Equally apologetic, the whole thing.

So, this is an interesting experience already, even though I’m not technically even a full day into it.

Hmm. I wonder if I should have an apple before I go to bed.

It’s been an uncommonly exciting weekend on many levels. It was really productive. I got a lot of stuff done in the past few days… I started the an online community about my new hobby of being incredibly cheap, I wrote a ton of stuff (blog entries, restaurant reviews, and events on Good Girls Guide), I got my grocery shopping done, and I cleaned my room. Hey! All that and some fun stuff, too!

Yesterday morning, I went and picked up a bike… yes, the really rad bike from the entry a couple days ago. It turned out to be a pretty cool bike with only a couple problems. It’s a fairly light 1960s touring bike with a good frame. There’s some rust on the back gears and it needed a new chain and a new back wheel, all of that (plus installation, a lock, and an orange safety vest) cost about $200. But hey, $200 isn’t bad for a really nice bike. I hope to ride it tomorrow after work at Griffith Park. Maybe I can even ride faster than the rabid coyotes! Yippee!

While the bike was at the shop getting a new back wheel and chain (did you know they make ‘em greaseless these days?), I had breakfast with my dad. It was really great to hang with him, since I usually admire his outlook on life and had a very specific question for him: David hasn’t historically seemed to take a very proactive approach to getting out of the house and checking out cultural stuff… and that has bothered me. And my dad and his girlfriend, Linda, are always going out and doing cool stuff – usually free cool stuff! – and I wanted to get his take on how I could get David to come out more, and maybe show a little more enthusiasm for going out. And my dad had some great advice: do what he wants to do first (go see Madagascar 2) and then go to what I wanted to do (go to the Robot Garden guy’s party and see the Silverlake art walk). Which was a great idea and David totally was happy to go along with.

Except I’ve got to be totally honest here… I was kind of uncomfortable at the Silverlake art walk thing that I so badly wanted to go to. I’m just not hipster enough. There were so many hipsters there… really! Like a million! And I felt all out of place and — well, not exactly too old — just not cool enough. But the robot garden was neat and the girl performing was cool and the art was all amazing. So I think I’m going to stick out being uncomfortable to go to more of these things. Even if I’m not cool. Even if I’m not a hipster. Even if I’m just a dorky (and not in the cool, Juno dorky way) joiner. Not everyone can be awesome, right?

And on the way home, we stopped off at Villa Terraza, which I reviewed on Yelp like so:

Wow. It’s hard to imagine how this place stays in business. The ambiance is ok (the star), but that’s where the magic ends. First, the proprietress acted like she was put out to seat us. Second, the menu… wow… like Michael S (whom I don’t know) said, it really needs some proofreading. We counted no fewer than 8 spelling errors in the appetizers alone (I took a photo but will have to upload it later). Third, no alcohol. Srsly. They can open a bottle of something you bring with you (probably at a steep corkage), but they can’t sell you alcohol. Fourth, the prices are outrageous. They’re what I call “fancy food” prices, but the place is like a fancy Shaky’s.

We decided just to go with an appetizer, since I’m super cheap and only spend money if I’m drinking. The bruchetta (on a “baget”) was sub-prime tomatoes mixed with grayish basil. The proscuitto was of ok quality, but the whole presentation looked so … weird. It looked seriously inedible. The flavor was ok, but 4 hours later, I’m still burping it up. It definitely wasn’t worth the $10… I could make something much more edible using fresh ingredients and some Safeway bread.

The highlight of the evening was when our bite was over and we escaped out the back door to check out the grounds. There are some weird cabanas on a plaza. It looks like an ideal place for a party, but the business was decidedly unparty-like. We got startled off by the proprietress just as I was taking a photo of the restroom sign that said, “Restrooms Fallow the Signs.”

So yes, I was totally and brutally honest. Hey, I call it like I see it.

David had the great idea to go to the Gene Autry Museum, which is great…. I mean the idea to go, since I’m really into Western stuff and we never have gone to a museum or done anything arty at all. And so we made a plan to go Sunday (today).

We also went to Dave’s bar (reviewed also on Yelp) and it smelled like vomit and spilled hard alcohol. It was gross. And loud. And the people were really creepy. This old cougar kept hitting on David and dancing all weird. Wow, the whole place was a train wreck. And after that, we went home and watched some TV while I fell asleep on David’s lap on the couch. It was a nice day.

This morning, I woke up a little foggy and out of sorts, but pulled myself together to go to the Farmers’ Market and get vegetables for the week. $20 later, I bought everything I needed… and holy MOLY, the tomatoes are amazing. It’s like they picked themselves right off the vine.

And then we went to the Gene Autry Museum, which is its own story, but I have to go and make myself some dinner and get to bed. Tomorrow’s a big day… I’ve got a doctor’s appointment to figure out why I’m chronically sick these days. I feel like I’m playing a deck of only 40 cards, including the jokers. It just isn’t right and I’ve got to get to the bottom of it.

Last night was great! David and I went to Madagascar 2 (which was ok, but not as good as the first one) and then went to the birthday party of the creator of the Robot Garden at Materials & Applications, and then kind of meandered around the Silverlake Art Walk before heading off to try to see Wacko / La Luz de Jesus Gallery (they have a new show) before it closed.

En route, however, we came across the NO on Prop 8 people, who were having their … what is it? 4th? … 4th protest, I guess. I was so proud. They surrounded the car and chanted and cheered when I honked my support. I took a video, but I guess I’ll have to upload it later, since David and I are going to the Gene Autry museum now.

This weekend, I’m going to look for used bikes. I miss biking and really want to see if I can bike to work. Yes, it’s about 15 miles, but I used to bike that when I lived in the Bay Area, so I’m sure I can do it with some training. I used to love riding… it was like flying, especially when no other cars are around and it’s totally quiet, but I’m going so fast. There really isn’t anything else like it.
But I’m out of shape, really. There’s no getting around that. I’m fat… I’ve put on 20 lbs since that time and am not able to shake it. My health is, well, I dunno… seriously suffering. I’m actually worried that something might be really wrong with me. I’ve been sick for two weeks! Yes, the first time was strep and I think the second time was an opportunistic cold, but what if there’s really something wrong with me? Or maybe I just need more rest.
Actually, that’s something that I’ve been thinking of… I was getting over my strep last week, thanks to some mega-powerful antibiotics. But then all weekend, my friends were in from out of town, so I was out and about entertaining. I probably would have stayed in (honestly, I didn’t feel like going out), but they were all here and I’ve been trying to make an effort to be more social. So I drank (which I hadn’t done the whole time I was sick) and stayed out late, and then went to David’s hockey game (already, by that time, I was feeling something coming on, but I had promised him I’d go), and woke up on Monday feeling really wonky.
By halfway through the day on Monday, I was dead on my feet. Amy sent me home (which was the kindest thing anyone could do, srsly), and I collapsed at home. I only left to vote and get groceries. Even though I’m not really much better today, I feel like I must go in to work, just because I need to get stuff done.
And I really am starting to feel like this is eating into my reliability at work, into my enjoyment of life, and into the things I want to do (bike, jog, etc).
I think one thing I really should do is avoid sickness… like the plague (I knew there was a reason that phrase existed). I’m going to start carrying hand sanitizer and wearing mufflers and not hanging out with people who are sick (I got this cold from David). And as God as my witness, I’m getting 8 hours of sleep every night. This weekend, I’m getting the flu and pneumonia vaccinations. I’ve never gotten them before, but this sickness has got to stop.

So, I was looking at my bank account with much chagrin. Splandrea’s wedding and associated expenses put me out about $600, including hotel, gas, etc. Youch… it totally cleared me out. And it occurred to me that I make a really good salary, but I have so little money left over between paychecks. And it’s not like I live lavishly. All my clothes are from about a million years ago and I don’t throw money away at electronics anymore…. so where does it go?

Well, I downloaded my statement and categorized everything. Turns out, I’m spending a lot of money on crap like Starbucks ($20/month) and entertainment ($366/month) and, yes, charity ($118/month). I also spend about $70/month on subscriptions that I don’t use. Yes, really.

So I’ve axed all that stuff (except the charity… I’ve cut that down to $68/month). I really think I can cut out most of the other stuff… specifically, the entertainment. But I want to make sure I don’t cut down on my quality of life, since that would be depressing. David never wants to go out because he’s broke, but I think there’s so many things to do that are absolutely free. To that end, I spend most of yesterday afternoon researching what free stuff is going on in Los Angeles, and HEY, there’s a fuckton of stuff to do! From lectures to gallery openings… even LACMA is free after 5pm.

So I’ve filled my calendar (really, FILLED) with free stuff to do! hooray!